The Impact of Widely Publicized Suicides on Search Trends: Using Google Trends to Test the Werther and Papageno Effects.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of widely publicized suicides on the Werther and Papageno Effects using internet search trends.

METHOD: A list of widely publicized suicides from 2010 through 2018 was compiled along with dates of death for each of these individuals. Google.com/trends data was then collected for searches for "how to suicide" and "suicide prevention" for 14 days prior to a widely publicized suicide/14 days after a widely publicized suicide and 7 days prior to a widely publicized suicide/7 days after a widely publicized suicide. Comparisons were then made between these time periods for "how to suicide" and "suicide prevention."

RESULTS: Some celebrities, such as Robin Williams (2014) and Aaron Hernandez (2017) were associated with increased searches. However, for many there was no increase in search trends.

CONCLUSIONS: Limited support was found for the impact of widely publicized suicides on internet search trends with one case supporting a Werther Effect and one case supporting a Papageno Effect. The finding that only some celebrities were associated with increased searches may be a byproduct of the impact of celebrity status on these effects, with more prominent celebrities having the greatest impact.